Remembering and Forgetting in the Digital Age

The project analyzes and assesses the legal framework for the
handling of personal information from the past and for the future
within an environment conditioned by changing information
technologies.

From the perspective of the information law approach, the project
will look at remembering and forgetting of personal information as a
set of rules, procedures and organizational frames determining the
handling of past information in the present and the handling of
present information for the future. It will analyze and assess a
variety of existing, cross-cutting legal materials – with deep
dives in areas such as public archives, registers, storage duties,
and prescription – along its informational functions and
answer the following four guiding research questions:

1. What are the isomorphic normative structures, default rules and
shifts, including their underlying legitimation, as well as
potential patterns that concern the remembering and forgetting of
information?

2. Are there possible points of tension and/or inconsistencies
within these normative structures?

3. What are the key conflicts between the interests of remembering
and forgetting, and as to what extent are these conflicts adequately
addressed by the normative structure, given the new technological
environment?

4. How could the current legal framework concerning the remembering
and forgetting of information be improved de lege ferenda, and where
are possible gaps and issues that are yet unaddressed by legal
rules?